[Seminars] EFI Colloquium

[Beth An Nakatsuka]

*** EFI Colloquium ***

Please join us!

MONDAY at 4:15pm in PRC 201

EXPLORING THE EARLY UNIVERSE (AND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS) WITH INTENSITY MAPPING

ERIK SHIROKOFF, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

When did the reionization of the universe occur? Was it driven by the first stars, or by quasars? How does the large scale structure of the universe evolve over time at high redshift? Tomographic intensity mapping using submm-wavelength spectral lines is uniquely placed to answer these questions. This technique measures the statistical properties of billions of spatially-unresolved galaxies over large regions of sky, as a function of redshift. In addition to probing hard-to-observe astrophysics, it also provides a unique contribution to fundamental physics experiments. As a polarized foreground-cleaner and a tool for better removing gravitationally lensed B-modes from future CMB observations, an independent measurement of large scale structure evolution with unique systematic biases, and (when combined with other data) a tracer of optical depth for CMB measurements, intensity mapping experiments will provide a vital contribution to future cosmological probes of inflation and dark energy. These measurements require tens of thousands of pixel-hours using a moderate- resolution spectrometer at a world-class mm-wavelength observatory. Recent advances in superconducting detectors and on-chip band-defining mm-wave electronics make it possible, for the first time, to carry out such observations. I'll discuss our work toward building these instruments and the science results they'll reveal in the near future.

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Beth An Nakatsuka
Project Assistant/Theory & Kadanoff Group Secretary
Enrico Fermi Institute
University of Chicago
933 E 56th St., PRC 101
Chicago, IL 60637